Soulmates
by team emmy kinney
Summary: Scar soulmate AU: Since the day Elizabeth Greene was born, she had puckered pink and white lashes splayed across her back.
1. Chapter 1

Since the day Elizabeth Greene was born, she had puckered pink and white lashes splayed across her back. In fact, for the entirety of her twenty years of life, her body was a canvas of deep purple bruises and other particular cuts and breaks. When the soul marks appeared on Beth's body, usually every day a new one, a tingling warmth would pour out over her skin, indicating that her soulmate had just taken another injury.

Momma used to tell Beth, "Let's hope your prince charming has good health insurance. For his sake and ours," she'd tease in a soft voice, trying to relieve Beth's tension when a particularly awful mark showed up. "If he's a proper gentleman, he'll offer to pay off all these hospital visits."

Beth would just give her mother a small, sad smile. The constant soul markings that showed up on Beth's body worried her to no end. Not knowing where, how, or why her soulmate was getting hurt so often, so vigorously, kept her awake at night in bewilderment. Every night, she prayed for the stranger that branded her body. She'd wrap her arm around herself, tracing the scar tissue of her soulmates old wound gently.

Her parents and siblings were always trying to reassure Beth when she'd get a soul mark. They'd laugh and tease, taking guesses at what he did for a living, always coming up with answers like professional fighter of some sort, or a soldier serving his country.

But she knew better. She knew exactly what they said about her constant markings, what they thought it really meant. That her soulmate, whoever they were out in the world, was either the kind of man a young woman like Beth shouldn't associate herself with, or a man who was in trouble. Her daddy and older brother Shawn had a tendency to lean towards the former.

The kids at school talked, too. The first few times Beth had awoke in the middle of the night to a pair of fresh black eyes and a bloody nose, she stayed home from school for a week until her eyes could be concealed with makeup. But, she could only miss school so many times, and well.. Her soulmate seemed to get hit in the face quite a bit more than anticipated. And kids talked, asking her all sorts of bizarre questions about someone and she never knew the answers.

In grade school, her constant battered appearance scared the other kids away, but as they got older and had their own soul markings, they understood and saw past it. But by high school, when the boys started coming' 'round Beth like a bear to honey, the boys started to get pushy.

"Beth, why are you gonna wait around for some pussy who can't even protect himself?" Was the usual jist of their attempts to get her to go out with them. "Why wait around forever that when I can just take you out tonight instead?"

Beth, being raised to always be kind to others, would politely decline, choosing to ignore the crude words that always followed. Prude. Cock tease. Lesbo. Virgin Mary. After going four years of high school without dating anybody, in a small town in Georgia, people finally caught on that she had already taken.

Traditionally, in most cultures, letting others see your soul markings meant that you were committing yourself to your soulmate, whether or not they were directly in your life. Beth, obviously, was the latter. They said that a soul bond tied two people together, fate inventably drawing them into each others lives.

Beth had been raised on promises of one day meeting her prince charming, her true love. Of a fairy tail wedding, right here on her family's farm. Hopeless romantics. And for a long time, Beth believed that could be her future, if she just waited long enough.

By the time she had turned twenty, she was starting to resent her never ending soul marks. Resent her soulmate, even. She wanted something to happen already. She wanted the worrying, the wondering, hopefully the broken bones and scars to stop being so frequent. She started to second guess just how strictly she should be following tradition. She was only human and she intimacy and affection. She started to think, y'know, what if her soul mate wasn't as committed as she had been? It seemed like everyone, heck, even momma and daddy, went on dates and went steady before finding their soulmate. It took her parents forty-five years to find each other—how long would Beth be waiting?

Beth figured after a while that it wouldn't hurt to go out on a date. That's when she started seeing a boy named Jimmy, a boy from her graduating class that went to the same church as her, a real southern gentleman. He spoke sweetly to her, taking her out on dates, going as slow as she wanted, knowing she had never done any type of dating before.

It was mostly innocent-hand holding, cuddling, soft shy kisses, that's all. Only a few times did they explore Beth's sexual awakening. When she kissed Jimmy, and let him touch her, she'd start to realize on what she had been missing for so long.

The first time he had slipped his hand slowly up her dress and to her underwear, a soul mark began burning in her eyes and her nose began to bleed. She cursed loudly, frustrated, cursing her soulmate, wishing for just a moment that for the first time that her soul marks would just stop for a while.

But then the going out on dates every Friday, breakfast at the mom and pop diner on Sunday mornings after church, all that had to stop once the flu epidemic started. Once people started getting deathly ill, Hershel forbad his three children from going out unless it was absolutely necessary until the flu blew over—so Jimmy started coming over the Greene's farm most days of the week.

Even though Daddy kept telling Beth that everything was fine, ignoring the news, promising that they'd be fine—the illness took her mother away, not even two weeks after the news stations said the sickness was invading Georgia. And then it took Jimmy's family, too, and Hershel brought him in.

The first two weeks were rough, with her momma passing and Jimmy following her around like a lost puppy. She kept herself busy, trying to keep the normal domestic routine. Her horse, Nelly, had gotten an awful lot of attention. When Beth was with Nelly, no one came around to bother her. She'd sit in the barn and trace over a soul mark that wasn't a temporary bruise, like the white scar on the inside of her thumb. It was only then that she realized she hadn't gotten a single soul mark in two days.

Two days turned into two weeks. Beth feverishly checked herself throughout the day, quietly excusing herself to go into the bathroom and inspect her body for some bruise, somethin', anythin'. She didn't know what she was going to do with herself if she lost the one thing the universe promised her.

After two weeks and four days without any soul marks, she felt a sharp familiar heat under her left collar bone. She let out the sweetest breath of relief, tugging her shirt collar down to look at the mark, but there wasn't anything appearing.

She went into the bathroom and took off her t-shirt, inspecting herself in the mirror. Several minutes went by before she saw it. She saw it happening! Slowly, a small black "X" was being tattooed- very slowly- onto her soulmate. She watched as a thin black line became thicker and thicker, then watch the other line crossing through it in amazement. She bit her lip, smiling, feeling sickenly sweet with hope.

Daryl Dixon had always been covered in scars and he knew they were always just his scars.

Everyone he knew growin' up already had gotten their precious little 'markings.' He heard the stories. How they felt when they were branded onto your skin, the warmth that spreads as you share an identical mark, temporary or for as long as you live, appears out of thin air. Feelin' some connection deeper than yourself. Yeah, he heard all about it.

His old man and his mom definitely weren't soul mates, because Daryl's dad beat the hell outta his mom when he was real little, she'd be covered in welts, bruises. That was before Merle was big enough to fight back and step in, but then mom died, Merle left, and all the old sonuvabitch had left was Daryl to knock from room to room on his binges.

It was just his luck he didn't have any typ'a soulmate. He figures, better off that way, he didn't want that, that ain't what he was gonna be doin' with his life. So when he was sixteen and Merle came back around after being in the army, Daryl took what he could carry and left his old man and never looked back.

Merle somehow got Daryl to do the stupidest shit. Merle was the only family Daryl ever had, only one to ever give a damn. Daryl wanted to prove to Merle that he could do whatever Merle could, no questions asked. Everything was a contest competition with Merle to prove himself worthy of holding the Dixon name.

It wasn't until he was he wasn't until he was eighteen years old that Daryl got his first mark. Two years on the road with Merle, spitting and swearin' every time he received a soul mark about what a fucking mistake it was to have already found her.

(He found her, all right, but street drugs found Merle's soulmate first. In her eyes, her first and only soulmate was what she could shoot up her arm. Daryl knew Merle well enough that he blamed himself for not findin' her in time before she was too far gone to come back. And now, let's remember, this is Merle Dixon we're talkin' about. Nobody loves a good high better than him. But it's all in moderation with recreation. So if Merle said she was too far gone, Daryl had no doubt in his mind she needed some real help.)

It was a a mediocre gash on the side of his head, above his ear. Daryl hissed in shock, his hand shooting up to touch the fresh wound, his breathing getting heavy as his head rushed with a sort of buzz. He was so overwhelmed by the feeling, the tugging on his heart, the disbelief that all that silly sappy cliché shit was true, that he didn't even attempt to stop his eyes from rolling to the top of his head and passing out on the floor at the pool hall the brothers were hustling at.

Merle gave him shit about it for weeks, callin' him a little bitch, askin' him if he was gonna go run off into the sunset with his one true love. Daryl would tell him to fuck off, and the next time he got a soul mark, he kept a stone cold face. It was never anything serious, or nothing Daryl hadn't had to deal with himself, but a deep down part of him anticipated the days on days of waiting to feel a bruise on his shin or a paper cut. He wasn't too happy when his soulmate fractured her foot, therefore his foot, because he spent a lot of time runnin' away from people.

Following Merle around for almost twenty years was not what Daryl imagined when he left his old man's at sixteen. Merle didn't really have friends. He had people who tolerated him, and people who wanted to beat the shit out of him. And Merle Dixon will never turn down a challenge.

Most nights turn into drunken bar fights, Merle throwing the first punch and Daryl right behind to back his big brother up. Daryl wasn't as big as Merle, but he had a decent amount of strength, and he could take a pretty hard beating. His trick in fights, especially drunk fights, was to let the other guy tire themselves out while whaling on Daryl, and once they're winded, Daryl'd take'm down and they'd be on their way no worse for wear. It didn't occur for a very long time that his soulmate probably looked like a rag doll because of him.

It turned out, though, once Merle was gone, Daryl stopped (physically) fighting most men he met. At the very least, the men he was staying with after the dead started walkin'.

The last thing he expected to happen was to find his soulmate after nearly getting his head blown off.

Beth's daddy had warned her to stay away from the group of strangers who had come to stay with them as of late. A little boy, named Carl, was accidently shot by her daddy's friend Otis. Hershel was able to save him, and they ended up having many more mouths to feed.

Beth hadn't realized how much she missed other people until she spoke with the other woman and the younger man, Glenn. She felt a little shy around the sheriff, Carl's father, named Rick Grimes, and uncomfortable by the hostility another man (who also turned out to be a cop) Shane.

Jimmy was already acting too big for his britches once the group arrived. Suddenly, he was in.. Well, Beth could honestly only think of it as a 'pissing contest' between Jimmy and the men of Rick's group, expect Jimmy was the only one participating. She was sitting with him in the kitchen, pouring each of them a glass of lemonade.

"That redneck is a jackass." Jimmy told Beth. "Believes in Chupacabra and when I said I need a gone if I'm gonna protect you and our family, he said somethin' like 'People in hell want slurpee's'."

Beth rolled her eyes at Jimmy, shaking her head slightly as her father walked in.

"Hershel! Mr. Greene, I-I-" Jimmy stuttered, standing up. "One of Rick's men took one of the horses. To look for the little girl."

Hershel was still in the doorway, face heavy with disappointment. "Bethy, come with me to the stables, let see who's missing." He suggested with a sigh.

Beth stood up quicker than she meant to, but she wouldn't mind stepping away from Jimmy when he's calling their guests jackasses. She hadn't spoken to Mr. Dixon more than a murmur of hello in passing, only earning a grunt in response from him. As much as she'd like to get to know all the people from Atlanta, she didn't want to put anyone in the corner for conversation.

Beth and Hershel made their way to the stables, checking for each horse. By the look of the open gate on Nelly's stable in the back of the, Mr. Dixon had taken her horse, and not only was it her horse, but Nelly was.. Nervous. Nervous Nelly. Beth never took her into the forest, she was spooked so easily, even by a squirrel. The Greene's owned plenty of acres for Beth to ride Nelly without either of them having a bad time.

"Bethy, will you go find Rick and tell him I'd like to speak to him for a moment?" Hershel said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She nodded, walking across the yard towards the makeshift camp, finding Mr. Grimes and his wife Lori.

"Mr. Grimes? My dad wants to talk to you." Beth spoke up, hoping the conversation she was interrupting wasn't too important. She knew her daddy was upset and didn't want the guests to overstay their welcome, but Beth couldn't help but want them to stay a little bit longer.

Lori sighed and turned towards Beth, pursing her lips, deep in thought. "Is everything okay?"

"I-I was gonna ask you the same thing," Beth admitted. "Mr. Dixon just took one of our horses without my dad's A-okay and he just wants to talk about.. Boundaries, I guess."

Lori let out a huff this time. "'Course he did. Beth, I'm gonna let you in on a secret. Men? They have thick skulls. Once they get an idea, it's hard to convince them otherwise, and vice versa.

Now, some men, they would'a given up on looking for Sophia out in those woods. Bein' a little girl lost in the woods isn't a good thing even when everything was right in the world. But Daryl—Mr. Dixon—he seems to be the only one that-" She trailed off at the end, looking away and running her hand through her face. "Daryl's gotta thick skull, I knew that right when I met him. But he is doin' more than any of us to find Sophia. I'm sorry Daryl took your horse without askin'. He won't apologize for it 'cause I don't think he's sorry for doing whatever it takes to... find her."

"I wish there was somethin' I could do to help. You guys seem like you're ready for anythin'. May I can ask Dad-" Beth stopped, taking a deep breath in as she felt a soul mark burning its way onto her forehead. A shiver went down her spine as she brought her hand to her new mark, a bit of blood from a small gash.

"Beth, are you okay?" Lori asked, stepping forward and placing a hand on her forehead. "Let me check that out. I know it probably doesn't hurt one bit.."

"Daddy'll stitch me up, this happens a lot." Beth confessed, her eyes lazily shut as she let herself feel the soul marks warmth make her chest feel light. "My... He... I don't know, but I think he likes to carve me up."

Lori chuckled, shaking her head at the young blonde. "I definitely know a mark when I see one. That's what you get when your soulmate is a cop."

Beth opened her mouth to reply, but suddenly her vision went black and she was doubled over. Another mark was slowly pushing it's way through the side of her abdomen. It didn't hurt, but it felt just as intense as the new cut on her forehead. Her ears rang and her cheeks flushed red. "Oh my god," she managed, her voice gasped. The only thing she could compare how her body felt was the feeling she got when she smoked weed a couple of times in high school. Her body felt fuzzy and warm and alert.

"Beth, oh my god, that is- that is a lot of blood, c'mon honey, let's get your dad," Lori ushered quickly, wrapping an arm around Beth, who stood up straight and blinked several times, moving with Lori.

"It's never felt this- it's like-" Beth tried to explain, looking down at her now blood soaked pink blouse. "I don't know. It's never felt so strong before. I think it- I felt the mark inside of me- do you, do you think he got shot-?" Beth asked, frightful of how easy it is to get shot these days, especially right after what happened to Carl.

"Jimmy? I don't know what on earth he is doin' to be givin' you these marks," Lori admitted as they were withinout shouting distance of Mr. Grimes and Hershel. "Hershel! Hershel, Beth is bleeding from a soul mark in her abdomen."

"Jimmy? No- no, I haven't met him yet. Jimmy's just a guy I was datin'-" Beth started to explain to her new friend, but Rick and Hershel were quick to get Beth inside and onto the same bed that Carl had laid on only days before. Lori stood next to Beth, holding her hand and smoothing her hair out of her face.

"What has that boy done this time?" Hershel asked hypothetically, examining Beth's bleeding side. "Bethy, all I can do is keep it disinfected and cover it with gauze." Next he looked at her forehead. "Clean your head too, put a butterfly bandage on it so you don't have to stitch yourself up." He reached behind himself to the nightstand, which had a typical amount of first aid equipment since this room seemed to become a hospital bed once Carl was shot.

Beth nodded, blinking slowly. She had lost a lot of blood quickly and felt dizzy as can be. She felt her father cleaning her wound, Lori staying with her, holding her hand, stroking her hair. Rick shuffled uncomfortably, unsure of what to say or do.

"Where's Jimmy?" Rick asked in a serious tone and Hershel let out a barking laugh.

"These markings are not from Jimmy, as much as he wishes they were." Hershel said. "Bethy, are you in any pain?"

"Yeah, well, no, I just—um! Mr. Grimes, will you please get me a glass of lemonade?" Beth said quickly, letting the uncomfortable looking man duck out of the room. She was embarassed to talk about her soulmate in front of Mr. Grimes. "Daddy, it was different. It was so strong. Took my breath away. Do you think he's okay? Can someone," Beth sighed, shutting her eyes. "If he's all alone out there, or without knowin' how to clean it, is he gonna live?"

Daryl had one helluva day. He got knocked off a horse, fell down the side of steep mudslide, and landed on one of his arrows. Right through the goddamn side, just missing his ribs, he figured. But he managed to find Sophia's doll that she always carried with her. That means she was there, that she's out there.

He stumbled into the farms property, breathing heavily. His head hung low, he peaked at his group as they rushed at him with weapons.

Daryl stopped, breathing heavy, as once again, Rick Grimes heald his Colt Python in his face.

"Is that Daryl?" Glenn asked, dumbfounded.

"That's the third time you pointed that thing at my head!" Daryl exclaimed at Rick. "You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

Rick lowered his gun, only to have a gunshot go off in the distance and shoot Daryl in the head, who immediately slumped to the ground.

"No!" Rick screamed, looking back at Andrea, who was holding one of their snipers on top of the RV. "No, no, no!"

From the front porch, Lori the Greene family, minus Beth, ran towards everyone.

"What on Earth's goin' on out here?!" Hershel hollared as Rick and Shane started to pull Daryl to his feet.

His hand reached up and gingerly touched the part of his temple that was hit by the bullet. "I was kidding," Daryl explained, sounding pissed before he went unconscious.

Beth sat immobilized in the bedroom as everyone was outside. There had been a gunshot and lots of screaming, but Beth couldn't think, because before she could even react to go see what the commotion was, a third soul mark seared on her left temple.

She felt euphoric. For almost every soul mark she has gotten, she's always wished for a moment she could stay feeling that euphoria forever, feeling secure with herself and her place in the universe and the tie to her soulmate. In this moment, right now, she knows that he's out there, somewhere, and at the very least, alive in that moment.

After a few deep breaths, she was able to get out of her post-mark daze and carefully approach the window. It was—was that Mr. Dixon? She tried to leave the bedroom, but her father quickly moved in.

"Beth, Daryl's was shot at by a bullet and it scraped a bit of scalp off his temple. Will you clean the wound and sew it while I work on his stomach?" Hershel asked, but it wasn't really a question, so she sat out of the way while Daryl was carried in and placed on the bed before going over to his... She looked down at him, assessing the damage done to his forehead before touching her own fresh mark, which no one had noticed yet, checking three times to see if her soul mark was on the left side like Mr. Dixon's.

"Oh," was all Beth could manage when she finally learned who her soulmate was.


	2. Chapter 2

Beth swallowed the lump in her throat as she turned back to the man laying on the bed in front of her. Less than a minute ago, the man in the bed was just Mr. Dixon from the Atlanta group. Now? Now she's the man she's loved and hated, the man she's been dreaming about at night, a faceless silhouette that has had to stand by her side.

She took a deep breath in and out before she poured the disinfectant onto linen strip and—she was using all her willpower for her hands not to shake, because in a moment, she was going to be stitching his scalp back on—and gently made the first dab at his grazed gunshot wound.

Daryl yanked his body up, suddenly full of adrenaline as he felt the warm familiar touch of receiving a soul mark, but it was much more than getting a soul mark, this shock engulfed his entire body. He felt like someone had electrocuted him, rewired his brain. He heaved deeply in and out, taking in as much air as he could to fill his lungs.

"Daryl-!" he heard Rick, but Hershel's outcry was louder.

"Beth! Someone take care of her head wound right now. Get Patricia out of bed if you have to. Do any of you know how to stitch besides Elizabeth?"

Daryl managed to squint at the blonde standing next to him, half her face lit from the lamp in the room, other half shadowed. One of her hands was extended towards him, near the side of his face where he had been shot. Her lips were pursed and she was staring at him intently, knowingly.

Her gaze was too intense after only a moment before he looked away.

"Daddy, I don't feel a thing. Let me- may I finish cleaning your wound, Mr. Dixon?" Beth Greene's voice was a thick hum over the tense room.

Then, all eyes were on Beth. She was backed against the wall, barely a foot and a half away from where Daryl was laying—(he hadn't even glanced at this Greene and now he was suddenly able to feel her in the room, feel how close she was to him)—holding some kind of rag in her hand. Her pink blouse was only two-thirds pink, the other third being a dark damp red that was obviously blood. Her face had lost all it's color, her blue eyes wide, starin' at him as if she seein' light for the first time. She had a cut on her forehead and on her left temple, an open wound with blood slowly trickling down her cheek.

Daryl's breathing was still heavy, and he let out a grunt to respond after he realized he may have been silent too long. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her hand inch close to his face and gently dab his forehead. Daryl, overwhelmed by the burning of the disinfectant and the awareness of how goddamn close she was to him.

"Good to go," She murmured finally. Hershel had moved close to the two while she cleaned his forehead, examining his daughter and cleaning her up at the same time.

"Bethy, go to Patricia, have her fix you up." Hershel said in a quiet, solemn voice. Daryl's face flushed as he felt her walk out of the room, the warmth of her closeness that had been controlling his mind dwindled, but he still wasn't able to make eye contact with anyone yet. He needed a moment to process what had just happened.

"We're going to have to clean your abdomen, too, son." Was all Hershel said while he stitched Daryl's forehead.

"Daryl," Rick said, clearing his throat. "We saw you found Sophia's doll."

"Yeah," Daryl nodded. "I found it washed up on the creek bed right there. Must of dropped it crossing there somewhere."

"Cuts the grid almost in half," Rick commented, looking back at Shane, who sat in a chair in the corner. Shane's head was resting on his hand, leaning against the chair, giving Daryl a puzzled glance before looking at his old partner.

"Yeah, you're welcome," Daryl snipped. On this hole journey for the little girl, he had been the only one, and not one had Shane even looked at him like that. Like he was concerned for once.

Rick simply nodded at Daryl's lash. "How's he looking?"

"I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly, between Bethy and Daryl." Hershel said as he closed up Daryl's arrow wound. The room was tense again at the mention of Hershel's daughter.

"I ain't got nothin' to do with that." Daryl barked, feeling his face grow hot. Hershel almost snorted next to him.

"Like hell you don't, son." Hershel said.

"I was out there all day lookin' for a little girl! And I ain't your son."

"No need to get so worked up, Daryl, it's just a figure of speech. Speaking of, any idea what happened to my horse?"

"Dear lord, Beth, what has he done now?" Patricia asked at the sight of Beth, shaking her head.

"Gettin' shot in our front yard, apparently." Maggie muttered, causing the younger Greene to give Maggie a look.

Patricia stopped what she was doing as she cleaned Beth's head. "What's she talking about? She's not- no."

Beth smiled weakly as her aunt's eye's widened. "I didn't mean it like that, Bethy, I just- we never expected,"

"It's okay. I.. Didn't expect it either."

Beth pushed through the door an inch, bed tray of food in her hands. The lights were low as Daryl pulled the covers of the bed over himself.

"Figured you could use a hot meal after today." Beth said, bringing it over to him. His eyes were low and he quietly accepted it, grunting at her. She tried to hide her smile at the familiar sound. "How are you feeling?

"'Bout as good as I look." He responded, focusing intently on the food. Beth was silent, unsure how to respond, reaching her hand up to the tattoo on her shoulder subconsciously. When she realized she was about to trace it, she sat on the end of the bed.

"What's the 'X' stand for?" She asked, pointing at the tattoo he had recently given himself on his collar bone.

Daryl looked up at her now, furrowing his eyebrows. "How'd you know?"

Beth reached the collar of her shirt, tugging it down gently to show her matching one. Daryl huffed.

"You got that?" Beth nodded. Daryl looked away again.

"I've got a.. lot. Of everythin'. Born with some." She told him, adjusting her shirt back comfortably.

When all Daryl did was grunt in response, not looking at her, she stood up and made her way out the door.

"Goodnight, Daryl."

Daryl did his best to avoid Beth after that. After everything he felt when she was around. Hell, he could feel her even when she was all the way in the house and we was out in their makeshift camp out front.

This was the last thing he needed right now. He had things he had to do. He had to find that little girl.

And then, all at once, commotion happened, and he watched that little girl stumble out of the barn last of all. All the walkers Hershel had been keeping in the barn.

He watched his soulmate cry over her undead mother and chose to comfort Carol.

He heard about her collapse, her shock. He felt it in himself but was able to keep going unlike her.

It wasn't until the soul mark on his wrist, a cut across a wrist, that he went runnin' into the Greene house as fast as he can.

"She's in there, I heard glass." Maggie said, pounding on the door as Daryl followed into Beth's room behind Lori.

"Beth!" Daryl barked, pushing through.

"Beth, honey, please, dont' do this, I'm not mad-" Maggie pleaded over and over, but Daryl wasn't waiting. He busted down the door, seeing his soulmate crying, blood running down her arm, same as his.

"I'm sorry," She cried, hand over her wrist.

Daryl moved quickly, grabbing the first thing he saw, ironically a nicely hung towel, and wrapped it around her wrist. "Hold it up, up over your head. Yeah, just like that, girl."

Beth fell into him, sobbing in his chest, and he wrapped an arm around her, giving her a squeeze, wanting nothing more than to help this girl he barely knew.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-," She kept saying, and he just shushed her, ushering her over to the bed.

"Hershel. We need Hershel." Lori said, running out the door.

"Bethy, Bethy, it's gonna be alright," Maggie said, rubbing Beth's back as she cried and shook in Daryl's arms.

"This ain't anythin' worse than what you had to get from havin' me, sure your paw can patch this right up easy." Daryl told her quietly. She sniffled looking up at him, the faintest smile on her face for a moment, before tears poured again.

Daryl had stayed with her for a little while that night, while Hershel patched her up, Hershel speaking softly to Beth. While he was stichting her left wrist, her right hand was held by his calloused one, letting her squeeze.

"It's different gettin' stitched when I'm the one in pain," she muttered to the men.

He didn't understand this familiarity that he had with her. He knew why, he wasn't an idiot, he realized she was his soulmate. He just didn't know how he, Daryl Dixon, was so easily able to comfort a young woman without feeling too awkward or uncomfortable. It just seemed like.. Muscle memory with her, like it was how it had always been, now that he could look at her.

His whole body felt alive when he was with her, in a way he'd heard the stories when he was younger. Everything was different. He was always hypervigilant, he had to be to know the signs to track and hunt for his whole life. But this was unfamiliar territory. Suddenly he could read her so easily, and that said a lot to Daryl, who was never sure, especially with woman, what the hell they meant when they spoke.

Hershel cleaned Daryls soul mark up in no time at all, giving his daughter a look before standing up.

"I don't mind you staying and keeping Bethy company for a bit, but the door stays open. You here me, son?"

Daryl resisted the urge to bark at him, biting his tongue and nodding. "Your house, door stays open. Ain't nothin' to worry about."

Hershel smiled sadly, kissing his daughter on the forehead before leaving.

Now it was just Daryl in Beth on her bed. She was laying back and he was sitting up and the foot, just like the other night when she had brought him dinner, but reversed.

"Thank you.. For comin' up and opening the door. Dunno.. Dunno what I was thinkin', now. Dunno why I thought.. Everything just.. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. My momma.. Everything was just.." Beth was at a loss for words.

Daryl nodded, understanding. He felt the same way when he saw Sophia walking out of that barn. But she, this little Beth, never experienced the walkers like he had. The deaths that he had.

"The 'X' on my shoulder is for my brother. Merle." He told her. "Lost him back in Atlanta."

"Oh," Beth said quitely. "I'm so sorry.. I had no idea."

"Ain't somethin' I brag about." He paused, fiddling his fingers against each other. "Shoulda come sooner. Come check on ya. I knew what was happenin' and I stayed away."

"Daryl," Beth said, tone serious, pushing herself to sit up. "I don't even remember much of the past few days. I was in shock. 'Sides.. I don't think anyone coulda stopped me."

"I shoulda been there for you. That's what-," Daryl stopped himself. "I shoulda been there. Talked to ya. Don't know how this.. Whole thing works."

Beth managed a smile. "I don't either. What matters is you're here now."


	3. Chapter 3

"That redneck? Are you fu.. Are you serious, Bethy? Him?" Jimmy said, pacing back and forth the Greene kitchen.

Beth gingerly rubbed her face. "We both knew we weren't soulmates, Jimmy. Not with all my marks. It's not like I expected him to pop up out of the blue on my front yard, for Pete's sake."

"Are you just leaving me for him, then?" Jimmy blurted out, face red with embarrassment.

"Jimmy—no!" Beth said. "No, it's not like that with Mister—with Daryl. We don't even know each other. I just.. I think it's best if we cool things down. That's all." After the night before, sitting with each other in her bedroom after her attempt, she wasn't sure where she stood on whether to call him Mr. Dixon or Daryl.

"And now they got some kid, tied up in the barn, and you know what your man is doing to him?" Jimmy spat, pacing.

"Jimmy!" Beth exclaimed, never seeing him act this way.

"He's beating him for information. Who knows what that prick is capable of. I don't trust him, Beth. And after all he's put you through, you shouldn't either." Jimmy headed out of the door. "Just thought you should know your soulmate is a lowlife thug."

Daryl rubbed his raw knuckles, alone at the camp. He had beaten that boy down pretty damn badly to get what they needed. His stomach was in knots, thinking about how old the kid was. He was just a kid.

But no one was safe anymore, not in this world, not with the men that Randall kid was describing. And no one else had the stomach to get the information out of the kid, so they all looked to Daryl, because, face it, they knew he'd do the dirty work.

"Daryl?" Her soft voice called across the way, causing Daryl to squint up. Daryl had already felt her coming the moment she stepped out the front door.

"Brought you some lemonade." She said, a glass in her hand and a bundle of a towel in the other. He grunted, taking it from her, looking down, somehow hoping she didn't know what he had done. But they all knew. Most of them wanted it done, but that didn't change Daryl's paranoia that he was still the bad guy in the situation.

"And.. Some ice. For your hands. Felt'm inside the house." She said, voice quieter this time. There was a long silence before Beth sat down, cross legged, holding the ice in her lap.

"If you're here to give me some sorta speech about what I did, I ain't about to here it." Daryl snarled. "So why don't you go be sweet on everyone else and give lemonade to someone who wants to talk." Dale had already tried to head-shrink Daryl earlier and all it did was piss him off more.

"Ain't here to talk about nothin'. Just wanna get away from everyone, same as you." Was all she said.

Daryl scoffed. "What, life isn't all you dreamed of on the prairie?"

To his surprised, she laughed. "Not since y'all showed up. Just tryna get acclimated to it still is all."

"Acclimated," Daryl repeated with a tiny chuckle. "Hell, that's one way to put it."

"Before.. The barn." Beth said slowly. "I shot a gun for the first time. Better late than never. Could use some work still, you know. In case anything happens."

"Pretty sure your paw is gonna kick us out soon anyway. You'll be back to keepin' them geeks in the barn." He muttered, taking a drink of the sweet lemonade.

What he said struck Beth and he bit his tongue back to apologize.

"I should get back inside. Daddy wants me on bed rest after yesterday. Just wanted to.. Say hi." She stood up and dusted off her pants with her free hand, ice still in the other. She placed it beside him.

"My hands still tingle. Maybe you'll feel like icin' 'em. Sooner rather than later, though." She lingered next to him, searching for words.

Part of Daryl wanted to bark at her to leave him be, that he didn't need any of this, not now. He looked up at her, her closeness burning into Daryl's body.

"You got somethin' to say?" He snapped. "Get back in and lay down."

Beth opened her mouth, shocked, but said nothing as she rushed back into the house.

Daryl didn't know how to be around her.

Her. Beth.

Deep inside, crawling out, was this rawness that he had never felt before. A connection towards someone he had never had, the closest thing he could compare it to was havin' Merle. But that? That was dependency. This? This—he had no idea what this feeling was.

It wasn't like he was her boyfriend, they weren't goin' steady, they weren't anything but a couple of strangers who just happened to meet when the world ended. But as many times as he told himself that, he knew it wasn't true. They were tied by the fuckin' universe.

He felt like he could talk to her. But Daryl didn't know how to talk. Not just to pretty girls like her, but to anyone. His guard was too high.

He mostly wanted to avoid her as much as possible, but he'd be lyin' to himself again if he said he didn't like how he felt when she was sittin' with him outside with lemonade, offering ice for his busted hands. And that's what was worse.

He had just met his soulmate, and his first impressions weren't exactly the best. Why the hell did he even care if she knew he beat the holy living hell out of that kid? Everyone else did. He did what needed to be done. But whatever this shit was that was toying inside him didn't want her to see him as the monster he really was inside.

When Dale died, they all gathered to pay their respects for the man that had always smiled kindly Beth's way.

But after that, everything seemed to happen too fast. Rick's group moved into the house. Randall got loose. Shane died. A horde of the undead attacked the farm and they had to flee.

Beth lost Patricia in her arms, escaping the burning remains of her farm, sobbing over watching her aunt die, pulled away into a truck with Lori and T-Dog.

As she cried in the back on her truck, she prayed silently that the fact she didn't have any soul marks- no bites, no scratches, no nothin' meant one of two things—that Daryl got out alive.

Daryl looped around the farm a few times as he watched vehicles leaving, the horde taking over, the fire drawing them in, trying to catch a glimpse of who was in which car or who made it, finding Carol.

"Did you see Beth?" Daryl said as she climbed on his bike. "Beth, did you see her?"

"I don't—I don't know, she was with Lori and Patricia!" Daryl cursed under his breath, deserting the remains of Hershel's farm.

Luckily, Rick's group all had the same idea to meet back up where they left supplies for Sophia at the highway, and that's where he found her again, embracing Hershel.

Rick was speaking to him and he made a small crack about Glenn's driving, accidently grabbing Beth's attention. She took a step away from her father before lunging at Daryl, throwing her tiny body at his frame and embracing him tight.

"Oomph—damn, girl, I'm okay." He told gruffly, trying to mask his own relief and the electricity pumping through his veins at her touch. He patted her back, giving her a half-assed hug. "You alright?" He said quietly, and she just held him tighter, letting out a soft sigh.

It was a long winter for all of them. Beth had never experienced anything like it before. Rick was in charge, doing the best he could. Beth picked up survival skills she never would've been able to think of on her own, and she thanked God every night for her new family.

That's what they became. A family. They looked out for one another. Took care of each other.

She very quickly lost of comfort of personal space, but honestly? She didn't want to be alone anymore. She needed everyone. She needed Maggie, Lori, Carol, to hold her when she cried over the traumatic loss of Patricia and losing Jimmy. She beat herself up for the first few months on how they ended things, and dreamt of walkers tearing him to shreds in the RV some nights.

Beth and Daryl didn't speak, but that wasn't to say they didn't communicate. She'd catch him staring at her, or the other way around, and at first, both of them would quickly look away. But after a while, they kept each others gaze for a few moments. That overwhelming feeling of a soul mark that would burn through Beth's entire body when she was next to Daryl wasn't so overwhelming anymore, it was more like a warm hum that vibrated at all times, now, and she was used to it.

When they traveled and would be next to each other, he'd place his hand on her back so gently as he passed that it was a like a whisper, making her unsure if it even happened at all. It was such a quick gesture, the soft reminder to her that he was there, or passing her, was all Beth needed during those hard months.

But then they found a prison. A place they could call home.

The first night at the prison, in the yard around the fire, Beth noticed Daryl not-so-sneakily leaving the group to find a spot to sit farther out near the prison.

After singing a song for Daddy and the group, she excused herself with a bowl of food and quitely found herself next to Daryl.

"You left before the squirrel was done." Beth said, lowering herself onto the ground next to him, feeling him radiate beside her.

"Didn't feel like be there for the campfire sing-a-long." He muttered, but took the tupperware bowl and scooped up the meat into his mouth.

Beth blushed at the comment, embarrassed, but didn't let it phase her retort. "You meanin' to tell me you weren't a boy scout?"

Daryl snorted, "Ain't nothin' in boy scouts I didn't learn out in the woods. Survival guide my ass."

Beth giggled. "I guess you're right. You know more about any woods than anyone else I ever known."

Daryl shrugged, continuing to eat. They sat in silence next to each other for a while.

Beth couldn't get over how comforting his closeness was. Even through all the hardships they had endured these past seven months, she felt like no matter what, they could handle it. Together.

Not just because of Daryl, but because of everyone else, too. Rick was a good leader, even if sometimes she questioned if they were making the right decisions; she knew in her heart that what he was doing was all in the best interest of them finding this, this prison, even though they hadn't known it at the time.

But having Daryl? It was a small reminder that good things were possible. What a miracle, she often thought, that she was to finally have him in her life. Even if it was just platonic between them; there was no rules or code to soulmates, she had realized. Those fairytales her momma told her when she was younger, they did come true for some people. But what she wasn't told was that sometimes your soulmate could just be a constant good in your life.

(She'd be kidding herself, though, if she hadn't wished for more. But it didn't take more than one conversation with Daryl Dixon to know that he was a closed off man, among other more crass things others word use to describe their first encounters with him. He had a lot of barriers, some that were naturally broken because of the fact they were soulmates, giving both of them a certain familiarity with each other that they've never had with anyone else—but that didn't make him any less of a guarded man. Beth, being hopelessly hopeful, told herself that if it was meant to be more than this, it would happen when it was time.)

"We haven't had a real chance to talk in a while," Beth commented after a long silence. Daryl stiffened next to her, wiping his hand on his pants.

"Ain't like we ever talked much to begin with."

"Never had the chance. All the runnin' we've done, we all had our jobs to focus on to survive. Not much time to shoot the shit, y'know." Beth defended, rolling her eyes at the last comment.

The swear sounded odd to her, not that she hadn't sworn before. Her momma and daddy raised her proper, she didn't swear around her 'elders.' But she still was a twenty (was she twenty-one now? Her birthday was in the middle of spring.) and she'd picked up her fair share of swears to add to her vocabulary, along with other things, after years of taunting from the boys in high school. (And, of course, her big brother Shaun, wasn't exactly a saint behind closed doors. Beth had always been closer to Shaun than to Maggie, just because of the closeness in age, but didn't really lessen her relationship with her sister.)

Beside her, Daryl choked on the bite of squirrel he was eating, coughed a few times and cleared his throat.

"Didn't know you were 'loud to cuss." Daryl said lightheartedly. In response, Beth gave him a playful nudge to his shoulder, muttering some sort of shut up that was barely heard by either of them. The smallest bit of contact sent Beth's body into tingles and warmth, and she knew Daryl was feeling the same, and they sat quietly until they were able to regain self-awareness.

"What I'm tryna say is," Beth finally said, mustering up all courage, peering at his face in the darkness. "Once we get settled, figure out how to make this place work, I don't see any reason we can't spend some time together."

Daryl wasn't able to keep her gaze for longer than a moment before looking away. "Guess not." He said gruffly.

Beth grinned, knowing that kind of response was the best she was going to get from him. It was basically Daryl's way of saying he was fine with them talking.


	4. Chapter 4

The group was able to clear a cell block with the expense of Hershel. He was bitten and Rick had to amputate, and he was unconscious.

Beth, trying to stay positive and look forward, started hemming her daddy's pants to accommodate the lost leg.

Daryl, on the other hand, was busy with Rick exploring the cafeteria, where they encountered some inmates who had been locked in since the beginning of the end. They managed to get a good supply of food to bring back.

After a series of events by the ring leader, they tripped the prisons alarm system and the tombs and courtyard were flooded by walkers.

They lost Carol, T-Dog, and Lori, but introduced Lori's child into the world. Rick.. Well, Rick went off on his own, and Beth took to taking care of the infant with Carl.

After Daryl dug Carol's grave, he sat up in his perch, stabbing the wall with his knife. He looked down, watching the group, watching Hershel sit at one of the tables with his daughters while Carl held his little sister- Lil' Ass Kicker, when he caught Beth's gaze.

He sighed, putting the knife down and letting her climb the stairs and approach him.

"Daryl.. Why don't you come on down and hold the baby? She likes you." Beth suggested, standing in the doorway.

"Naw. Fine right here. Don't need no company."

"I miss her already, too." Beth said, regarding Carol. Daryl huffed angrily.

"I don't need no goddamn sympathy from ya, either!"

"Daryl—," Beth said, obviously trying to calm him from the scene she knew he was about to start.

"Naw, let's set the record straight right now. I don't need this. Any of it! All we got are scars. That's that. Ain't gonna pussyfoot around and be pretendin' it's anythin' more than that. Now, do yourself a favor and leave me the hell alone before I gotta throw you out." Daryl spat.

As soon as he said the words, regret flooded his body, but he wasn't about to take it back. He just lost his best friend, the closest person to him besides Rick, or, well, Beth. But he didn't know how to deal with her.

Daryl was up in that perch, thinkin' about how easily it coulda been Beth. And that scared him shitless. The best thing for him to do now? Distance himself as much as he could. Cut her out.

They weren't anything, even. They never even talked. Whatever they had between them, whatever loose ends they had that she seemed to want to move forward with and figure it out (and he wouldn't admit now that he wanted to play it out, too, but hell, a guy like him would never know how) should be the least of his concerns. Livin', protecting his people, doing what needed to be done, that's what mattered. Not some goddamn romance novel.

Judith. The little girls name was Judith, and Beth eagerly accepted the role as her fill in nanny. It helped keep her mind off all the horrors that had happened. But the others kept in good spirit.

Maggie and Glenn had gone on a run for formula and never returned, a woman with a sword baby formula with news about what happened to the two.

Carol was found in the tombs, alive, dehydrated, but alive.

Reuniting Carol with the group was the first time Daryl and Beth were within ten feet of each other since he sent her off. She avoided eye contact, but unable to shake his aura that engulfed her. Felt him glancing at her from the corner of his eye as she kissed Carol's cheek and sat down on the bed with her. Felt his aching.

But she couldn't look at him, now that he had come to his senses. She knew, when he snapped, that he was mourning. That he couldn't handle losing Carol. That he was scared of how easy it was to lose people.

(But then Carol was alive after all. He went searching for her himself, leaving Beth on edge with worry, waiting cautiously for a soul mark, while her daddy sat and shared stories of calming prayers next to her, like he always had before when she had received a partially nasty soul mark before the outbreak, before she knew Daryl and what he really was getting himself into.)

And then they were going on a rescue mission for Glenn and Maggie at some town run by a man called the Governor.

"This is Maggie and Glenn. Why are we even debatin'?" Beth demanded during the group meeting on if they should go on the scouting mission, looking around.

"We ain't. I'll go after them." Daryl said immediately, glancing her way. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"This place.. Sounds heavily protected, you can't go alone." Rick said.

"I'll go." Beth said immediately, causing all eyes on her. She felt Daryl's piercing stare and Rick shifted, looking at his brother with understanding.

The two remaining inmates offered to go get there people back and Beth tried not to panic, thinking of what was to come.

"Beth, you stay here with Judith. Keep and eye on Carol." Rick said, stepping forward and resting his hand on her shoulder to give a comforting squeeze. "We'll take care of this. I know you can take care of them."

"We'll get'm back home." Daryl said, turning around and heading out of the cell block.

The familiar feeling of relief flooded Beth, knowing that Daryl would be there to get them, along with the usual worry of what could happen. Especially when the samurai woman said they had almost eighty people in the town. So many things could go wrong.

As Daryl packed one of the SUV's up with supplies for their mission, Rick approached him.

"Daryl, can I have a moment?" Rick asked as he loaded a bag into the trunk before turning to face his friend.

"Anything weighing on your mind?" Rick said carefully, knowing he was walking on eggshells.

"Don't know what you mean." Daryl muttered. "Got some flash bangs, grenades. Dunno what we might need."

"I meant what happened in the cell block when Beth offered to go. Granted, I was going to ask her to watch after Judith anyway, but it looked like—"

Daryl paused, sighing and looking Rick in the eye. "If you already know, don't see why we're beatin' 'round the bush." He lowered his voice to a mutter.

"I get it, Daryl. I do. We both know Beth can take care of herself when it comes down to it. But these are real, armed soldiers. If it were Lori? This might be a suicide mission." Rick said quietly. "I know what you're doin', brother. I just think you might want to talk to her before we head out. She'll understand. Women.. They're smart like that."

Beth opened the gate while the woman who weld the sword, Michonne, followed her, dumbfounded how this small group had cleared the prison by themselves. Beth smiled sadly, explaining that there were others.

"That trigger happy redneck. He's yours?" Michonne asked, but it was a statement. Beth sighed and didn't answer. "I ask because he's headed this way."

Beth turned her head, and she was right, Daryl was making his way over to the two. Michonne gave Beth an all-too-well knowing look before going towards the loaded cars.

"Daryl," Beth sputtered immediately, stepping closer to him while still leaving arms reach between them.

"Want ya to know we're gonna bring'em back. Safe'n sound." Daryl said with a thick voice. Beth smiled.

"I know. I trust you," Beth assured him before giving him a taunting look. "Try not to get shot, okay? I can handle some bruises, but," Daryl interrupted her by closing the gap between them and giving her a swift hug, sending her into euphorics.

"Ain't gonna promise anythin'. Same to you. Last thing I need is a soul mark when I'm sneakin' around uncharted terrain." He said quietly as he let her go. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face before trying to speak again.

"I know. I know Daryl. It's okay. You ain't gotta say it." Beth told him, still so close she could hear his heart pumping fast.

Daryl's cheeks were flushed pink as he cleared his throat. "See ya in a day or so. Take care of Asskicker and Carol and your paw."

And with that being said, he was gone, leaving Beth leaning against the metal fence, waiting until they pulled away. She took several deep breaths and closed her eyes, a hopeful feeling in her heart that she hoped was a sign that everything would be okay.

The soul marks started appearing on Beth midway through the night. Beth shot up in her bed as she felt the burn run deep in her wrists, rubbing them anxiously, although there was no pain, she didn't know what it meant for Daryl.

Next, she lurched over and threw up, feeling the burn in her abdomen. She'd felt that one before. Someone just kicked, or punched, or somethin', in his gut.

"Daddy!" She screamed, not wanting to go through this alone. Not tonight.

And then again, in the side of her face, the warmth tingled and made her head dizzy, her eyes glaze over. It was like it was when she was back on the farm, alone in her room at night, feeling all these marks, that she could now only guess were from fighting.

"Beth?" Carol said, rushing into her cell. "Beth, you're bleeding!" She reached up and touched her cheek, noticing blood dripping down the side from a bit of flesh being scrapped off.

And then over, and over, and over, until Beth was just lying in bed with her head in her daddy's lap, saying soft prayers and singing quiet hymns to her as bruises formed all over her slender body.

For those moments that felt like a lifetime, she thought that was it. That suddenly, she wouldn't feel anything anymore.

She was right. She didn't feel anything for the rest of the night. She didn't sleep at all, memorizing every fresh mark on her body and feeling hopeless.  
_

Daryl found Merle. His brother. His brother that he hadn't seen since—since his best fuckin' friend cuffed him to a roof in Atlanta. Cut his own fuckin' hand off, cauterized it, hadn't been seen since.

To find out he was workin' with this Governor. Torturing his family.

Found him face to face in a fuckin' arena, surrounded by people, chained walkers, and told he had to fight Merle to the death.

In his head, he begged for Beth's forgivness for the soul marks she was going to feel, that would no doubt make her worry, and truth be told, he hadn't been so sure how he was going to get out of that arena.

But he was blood. He was family. He wasn't gonna leave him. Not again.

"I'm not leavin' him. Not again."

"What about Carol? What about Beth?" Glenn had pleaded. Beth.

"Carol will understand," Daryl said, adjusting his bow in his arms.

"And tell Beth.. Sorry."

Without any sleep, Beth went about her daily routine with Judith, trying to keep busy. She ignored the new group who had been locked up in what she called the day room outside the cell block- she only remembered the kind man Tyreese, and that the woman, Sasha, was his sister. Sasha had mistaken Beth for being Judith's mother and she quietly told her she wasn't, and hurried out without an explanation. Luckily, though, no one commented on her face.

Later in the day, Hershel said that Beth needed some fresh air, so she want on a perimeter check with Carol and Carl. Beth didn't engage in the small talk, not today, not knowing what to say when every time Carol looked at her, she saw fear in her eyes.

Carol was the first to spot the cars pulling back up to the gates, rushing out, looking for everyone.

"Where's Daryl?" Carol asked, glancing back at Beth.

"He's alright. He's alive. We ran into his brother." Rick explained. "They went off."

"He left?" Carol said, shocked. "Daryl left? He's gone?"

Beth pushed through the gate now, marching up to the group that just returned. "What do you mean 'they went off'?"

"Is he coming back?" Carol asked, tears welling in her eyes, and for a moment, Beth wanted to tell her to shut the hell up. She loved Carol, to death, but in her selfish moment, she was angry that Rick was comforting Carol over Daryl's soulmate.

But only for a moment, because quickly, the grown woman was in Beth's arms, holding the younger blonde tight, crying softly into her shoulder, whispering things into her neck that she couldn't make out through the sobs.

Beth and Carol stayed glued to each other that day, watching after Judith together. She heard stories about Sofia, Carol's Daughter, as a baby, and Beth smiled, remembering when she used to think one day she'd be a mother. Judith, though, was the next best thing.

"I don't see why he had to leave," Beth finally said, breaking the elephant in the room that had been lingering for hours. "Merle.. Sounds like a jerk."

"Men like Merle get inside your head. Daryl doesn't know any better. He feels like he owes him something, even now that he's his own person."

"We're weak without him. Doesn't he know that?" I'm weak without him. Beth was bitter to admit it. She was going through a rollercoaster of emotions, she was figuring it was like the five stages of grief.

"My husband, Ed? He wasn't my soulmate." Carol confided. "I never had a chance to meet mine. The marks stopped before I met Ed.

"We'll get through this. Without Daryl. And maybe have a bittersweet moment when you get a mark to know he's still out there.. Being a dumbass."

Beth looked down at the infant in her arms, bouncing her gently, smiling at the angel.

"I thought the prison was gonna be our chance to finally do somethin', figure somethin' out about.. What we wanted. If we wanted anything." Beth said softly. "When I was little, my momma said my soul mate was my prince. Even with all the bangs and bruises. When I found out it was Daryl, I knew it was a different kind of story, but.. Not the type where he'd leave."

"I'm pissed at him for leavin'." Beth finally said, and Judith must have felt her anger bubbling inside, because she started crying. Carol smiled weakily and took Judith from her arms.

"Daryl has a code. He's loyal. Family runs deep with him. He just needs to realize that blood isn't the deepest it goes."  
_

The first two days with Merle and Daryl remembered why he hated the sunuvabitch so goddamn much, and god, he missed the prison.

Everything was a competeion. Hunting, for instance. Couldn't find any squirrels, Merle had to make it into a manly challenge. Daryl offered that they scavenge a house? Merle called his family out on bein' no good thieves.

No, Dixon men earned their keep, a lesson Daryl obviously must have forgotten.

"I guess it'll take a bit for us to, uh, readjust to each other, little brother," Merle said with a snide laugh. "Now that you're house broken. With all them prison folk."

"They're good people," Daryl told him. "We could go back. Try to make things work. Food. Shelter. Fences."

"They don't want us there, baby brother! You told them! 'No him, no me.' And they didn't chose you. They let you walk away. Shows how good they are to ya. Sides. Governor will be after them.

Hell, they probably already dead. Rapin' the woman, killin' the men right in front of them before hand."

"They ain't dead." Daryl snapped. "I'd know, and ain't a thing has happened."

"What, you got some mental connection to your boy-toy, Officer Friendly?" Merle snorted. "Naw, they all gone."

"They ain't." Daryl said angrily. "Look at this shit." He shoved his left wrist in his face, showing his slightly faded soul mark.

Merle frowned, snatching his brothers wrist. "You little fuckin' pussy. You tried to end it? With a knife to your fuckin' arm?"

Daryl ripped his arm back. "It's a mark. A soul mark. If anything happened at the prison, we wouldn't be out here, I'd be high tailin' it back there for Bet- for them!"

Merle bit his lower lip, an evil smile on his face. "Little brother," he cooed. "You gettin' down and dirty with a lady at the prison? That's why you wanna go back? Really high tail it back there.. For your goddamn soul mate? God damn, bein' sheltered has made you soft."

"Ain't fuckin' soft to care about other people. They were there for me when you weren't!"

"I wasn't there for you because of them!"

"We went back for you!" Daryl barked. "You had to fuckin' steal our van when we went back to get you! You gave us no choice!"

Merle sighed. "My, my, my, baby brother. Lemme think on it. I'll take you back if you're nicer when you're all frisky with a woman."


	5. Chapter 5

The group was able to clear a cell block with the expense of Hershel. He was bitten and Rick had to amputate, and he was unconscious.

Beth, trying to stay positive and look forward, started hemming her daddy's pants to accommodate the lost leg.

Daryl, on the other hand, was busy with Rick exploring the cafeteria, where they encountered some inmates who had been locked in since the beginning of the end. They managed to get a good supply of food to bring back.

After a series of events by the ring leader, they tripped the prisons alarm system and the tombs and courtyard were flooded by walkers.

They lost Carol, T-Dog, and Lori, but introduced Lori's child into the world. Rick.. Well, Rick went off on his own, and Beth took to taking care of the infant with Carl.

After Daryl dug Carol's grave, he sat up in his perch, stabbing the wall with his knife. He looked down, watching the group, watching Hershel sit at one of the tables with his daughters while Carl held his little sister- Lil' Ass Kicker, when he caught Beth's gaze.

He sighed, putting the knife down and letting her climb the stairs and approach him.

"Daryl.. Why don't you come on down and hold the baby? She likes you." Beth suggested, standing in the doorway.

"Naw. Fine right here. Don't need no company."

"I miss her already, too." Beth said, regarding Carol. Daryl huffed angrily.

"I don't need no goddamn sympathy from ya, either!"

"Daryl—," Beth said, obviously trying to calm him from the scene she knew he was about to start.

"Naw, let's set the record straight right now. I don't need this. Any of it! All we got are scars. That's that. Ain't gonna pussyfoot around and be pretendin' it's anythin' more than that. Now, do yourself a favor and leave me the hell alone before I gotta throw you out." Daryl spat.

As soon as he said the words, regret flooded his body, but he wasn't about to take it back. He just lost his best friend, the closest person to him besides Rick, or, well, Beth. But he didn't know how to deal with her.

Daryl was up in that perch, thinkin' about how easily it coulda been Beth. And that scared him shitless. The best thing for him to do now? Distance himself as much as he could. Cut her out.

They weren't anything, even. They never even talked. Whatever they had between them, whatever loose ends they had that she seemed to want to move forward with and figure it out (and he wouldn't admit now that he wanted to play it out, too, but hell, a guy like him would never know how) should be the least of his concerns. Livin', protecting his people, doing what needed to be done, that's what mattered. Not some goddamn romance novel.

Judith. The little girls name was Judith, and Beth eagerly accepted the role as her fill in nanny. It helped keep her mind off all the horrors that had happened. But the others kept in good spirit.

Maggie and Glenn had gone on a run for formula and never returned, a woman with a sword baby formula with news about what happened to the two.

Carol was found in the tombs, alive, dehydrated, but alive.

Reuniting Carol with the group was the first time Daryl and Beth were within ten feet of each other since he sent her off. She avoided eye contact, but unable to shake his aura that engulfed her. Felt him glancing at her from the corner of his eye as she kissed Carol's cheek and sat down on the bed with her. Felt his aching.

But she couldn't look at him, now that he had come to his senses. She knew, when he snapped, that he was mourning. That he couldn't handle losing Carol. That he was scared of how easy it was to lose people.

(But then Carol was alive after all. He went searching for her himself, leaving Beth on edge with worry, waiting cautiously for a soul mark, while her daddy sat and shared stories of calming prayers next to her, like he always had before when she had received a partially nasty soul mark before the outbreak, before she knew Daryl and what he really was getting himself into.)

And then they were going on a rescue mission for Glenn and Maggie at some town run by a man called the Governor.

"This is Maggie and Glenn. Why are we even debatin'?" Beth demanded during the group meeting on if they should go on the scouting mission, looking around.

"We ain't. I'll go after them." Daryl said immediately, glancing her way. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"This place.. Sounds heavily protected, you can't go alone." Rick said.

"I'll go." Beth said immediately, causing all eyes on her. She felt Daryl's piercing stare and Rick shifted, looking at his brother with understanding.

The two remaining inmates offered to go get there people back and Beth tried not to panic, thinking of what was to come.

"Beth, you stay here with Judith. Keep and eye on Carol." Rick said, stepping forward and resting his hand on her shoulder to give a comforting squeeze. "We'll take care of this. I know you can take care of them."

"We'll get'm back home." Daryl said, turning around and heading out of the cell block.

The familiar feeling of relief flooded Beth, knowing that Daryl would be there to get them, along with the usual worry of what could happen. Especially when the samurai woman said they had almost eighty people in the town. So many things could go wrong.

As Daryl packed one of the SUV's up with supplies for their mission, Rick approached him.

"Daryl, can I have a moment?" Rick asked as he loaded a bag into the trunk before turning to face his friend.

"Anything weighing on your mind?" Rick said carefully, knowing he was walking on eggshells.

"Don't know what you mean." Daryl muttered. "Got some flash bangs, grenades. Dunno what we might need."

"I meant what happened in the cell block when Beth offered to go. Granted, I was going to ask her to watch after Judith anyway, but it looked like—"

Daryl paused, sighing and looking Rick in the eye. "If you already know, don't see why we're beatin' 'round the bush." He lowered his voice to a mutter.

"I get it, Daryl. I do. We both know Beth can take care of herself when it comes down to it. But these are real, armed soldiers. If it were Lori? This might be a suicide mission." Rick said quietly. "I know what you're doin', brother. I just think you might want to talk to her before we head out. She'll understand. Women.. They're smart like that."

Beth opened the gate while the woman who weld the sword, Michonne, followed her, dumbfounded how this small group had cleared the prison by themselves. Beth smiled sadly, explaining that there were others.

"That trigger happy redneck. He's yours?" Michonne asked, but it was a statement. Beth sighed and didn't answer. "I ask because he's headed this way."

Beth turned her head, and she was right, Daryl was making his way over to the two. Michonne gave Beth an all-too-well knowing look before going towards the loaded cars.

"Daryl," Beth sputtered immediately, stepping closer to him while still leaving arms reach between them.

"Want ya to know we're gonna bring'em back. Safe'n sound." Daryl said with a thick voice. Beth smiled.

"I know. I trust you," Beth assured him before giving him a taunting look. "Try not to get shot, okay? I can handle some bruises, but," Daryl interrupted her by closing the gap between them and giving her a swift hug, sending her into euphorics.

"Ain't gonna promise anythin'. Same to you. Last thing I need is a soul mark when I'm sneakin' around uncharted terrain." He said quietly as he let her go. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face before trying to speak again.

"I know. I know Daryl. It's okay. You ain't gotta say it." Beth told him, still so close she could hear his heart pumping fast.

Daryl's cheeks were flushed pink as he cleared his throat. "See ya in a day or so. Take care of Asskicker and Carol and your paw."

And with that being said, he was gone, leaving Beth leaning against the metal fence, waiting until they pulled away. She took several deep breaths and closed her eyes, a hopeful feeling in her heart that she hoped was a sign that everything would be okay.

The soul marks started appearing on Beth midway through the night. Beth shot up in her bed as she felt the burn run deep in her wrists, rubbing them anxiously, although there was no pain, she didn't know what it meant for Daryl.

Next, she lurched over and threw up, feeling the burn in her abdomen. She'd felt that one before. Someone just kicked, or punched, or somethin', in his gut.

"Daddy!" She screamed, not wanting to go through this alone. Not tonight.

And then again, in the side of her face, the warmth tingled and made her head dizzy, her eyes glaze over. It was like it was when she was back on the farm, alone in her room at night, feeling all these marks, that she could now only guess were from fighting.

"Beth?" Carol said, rushing into her cell. "Beth, you're bleeding!" She reached up and touched her cheek, noticing blood dripping down the side from a bit of flesh being scrapped off.

And then over, and over, and over, until Beth was just lying in bed with her head in her daddy's lap, saying soft prayers and singing quiet hymns to her as bruises formed all over her slender body.

For those moments that felt like a lifetime, she thought that was it. That suddenly, she wouldn't feel anything anymore.

She was right. She didn't feel anything for the rest of the night. She didn't sleep at all, memorizing every fresh mark on her body and feeling hopeless.  
_

Daryl found Merle. His brother. His brother that he hadn't seen since—since his best fuckin' friend cuffed him to a roof in Atlanta. Cut his own fuckin' hand off, cauterized it, hadn't been seen since.

To find out he was workin' with this Governor. Torturing his family.

Found him face to face in a fuckin' arena, surrounded by people, chained walkers, and told he had to fight Merle to the death.

In his head, he begged for Beth's forgivness for the soul marks she was going to feel, that would no doubt make her worry, and truth be told, he hadn't been so sure how he was going to get out of that arena.

But he was blood. He was family. He wasn't gonna leave him. Not again.

"I'm not leavin' him. Not again."

"What about Carol? What about Beth?" Glenn had pleaded. Beth.

"Carol will understand," Daryl said, adjusting his bow in his arms.

"And tell Beth.. Sorry."

Without any sleep, Beth went about her daily routine with Judith, trying to keep busy. She ignored the new group who had been locked up in what she called the day room outside the cell block- she only remembered the kind man Tyreese, and that the woman, Sasha, was his sister. Sasha had mistaken Beth for being Judith's mother and she quietly told her she wasn't, and hurried out without an explanation. Luckily, though, no one commented on her face.

Later in the day, Hershel said that Beth needed some fresh air, so she want on a perimeter check with Carol and Carl. Beth didn't engage in the small talk, not today, not knowing what to say when every time Carol looked at her, she saw fear in her eyes.

Carol was the first to spot the cars pulling back up to the gates, rushing out, looking for everyone.

"Where's Daryl?" Carol asked, glancing back at Beth.

"He's alright. He's alive. We ran into his brother." Rick explained. "They went off."

"He left?" Carol said, shocked. "Daryl left? He's gone?"

Beth pushed through the gate now, marching up to the group that just returned. "What do you mean 'they went off'?"

"Is he coming back?" Carol asked, tears welling in her eyes, and for a moment, Beth wanted to tell her to shut the hell up. She loved Carol, to death, but in her selfish moment, she was angry that Rick was comforting Carol over Daryl's soulmate.

But only for a moment, because quickly, the grown woman was in Beth's arms, holding the younger blonde tight, crying softly into her shoulder, whispering things into her neck that she couldn't make out through the sobs.

Beth and Carol stayed glued to each other that day, watching after Judith together. She heard stories about Sofia, Carol's Daughter, as a baby, and Beth smiled, remembering when she used to think one day she'd be a mother. Judith, though, was the next best thing.

"I don't see why he had to leave," Beth finally said, breaking the elephant in the room that had been lingering for hours. "Merle.. Sounds like a jerk."

"Men like Merle get inside your head. Daryl doesn't know any better. He feels like he owes him something, even now that he's his own person."

"We're weak without him. Doesn't he know that?" I'm weak without him. Beth was bitter to admit it. She was going through a rollercoaster of emotions, she was figuring it was like the five stages of grief.

"My husband, Ed? He wasn't my soulmate." Carol confided. "I never had a chance to meet mine. The marks stopped before I met Ed.

"We'll get through this. Without Daryl. And maybe have a bittersweet moment when you get a mark to know he's still out there.. Being a dumbass."

Beth looked down at the infant in her arms, bouncing her gently, smiling at the angel.

"I thought the prison was gonna be our chance to finally do somethin', figure somethin' out about.. What we wanted. If we wanted anything." Beth said softly. "When I was little, my momma said my soul mate was my prince. Even with all the bangs and bruises. When I found out it was Daryl, I knew it was a different kind of story, but.. Not the type where he'd leave."

"I'm pissed at him for leavin'." Beth finally said, and Judith must have felt her anger bubbling inside, because she started crying. Carol smiled weakily and took Judith from her arms.

"Daryl has a code. He's loyal. Family runs deep with him. He just needs to realize that blood isn't the deepest it goes."  
_

The first two days with Merle and Daryl remembered why he hated the sunuvabitch so goddamn much, and god, he missed the prison.

Everything was a competeion. Hunting, for instance. Couldn't find any squirrels, Merle had to make it into a manly challenge. Daryl offered that they scavenge a house? Merle called his family out on bein' no good thieves.

No, Dixon men earned their keep, a lesson Daryl obviously must have forgotten.

"I guess it'll take a bit for us to, uh, readjust to each other, little brother," Merle said with a snide laugh. "Now that you're house broken. With all them prison folk."

"They're good people," Daryl told him. "We could go back. Try to make things work. Food. Shelter. Fences."

"They don't want us there, baby brother! You told them! 'No him, no me.' And they didn't chose you. They let you walk away. Shows how good they are to ya. Sides. Governor will be after them.

Hell, they probably already dead. Rapin' the woman, killin' the men right in front of them before hand."

"They ain't dead." Daryl snapped. "I'd know, and ain't a thing has happened."

"What, you got some mental connection to your boy-toy, Officer Friendly?" Merle snorted. "Naw, they all gone."

"They ain't." Daryl said angrily. "Look at this shit." He shoved his left wrist in his face, showing his slightly faded soul mark.

Merle frowned, snatching his brothers wrist. "You little fuckin' pussy. You tried to end it? With a knife to your fuckin' arm?"

Daryl ripped his arm back. "It's a mark. A soul mark. If anything happened at the prison, we wouldn't be out here, I'd be high tailin' it back there for Bet- for them!"

Merle bit his lower lip, an evil smile on his face. "Little brother," he cooed. "You gettin' down and dirty with a lady at the prison? That's why you wanna go back? Really high tail it back there.. For your goddamn soul mate? God damn, bein' sheltered has made you soft."

"Ain't fuckin' soft to care about other people. They were there for me when you weren't!"

"I wasn't there for you because of them!"

"We went back for you!" Daryl barked. "You had to fuckin' steal our van when we went back to get you! You gave us no choice!"

Merle sighed. "My, my, my, baby brother. Lemme think on it. I'll take you back if you're nicer when you're all frisky with a woman."


End file.
